West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1887-07-07
RepIautinD Conn

Let the reader think III he ever knew
replant corn to do any good. more than
to make little fodder. If rcplanting
missing hills is done it cannot be until
sufnclcnt time aps.s TO give all Of the
first planting chance TO show itself
and often it is three weeks from the me
OF the first planting before the rcp,antinp
IS done. Even two weeks difference i'm
the ages of different hills, gives the older
ones such "A decided ADVANTAGE i'm size
that the younger are soon shaded so as to
be deprived of their needed proportion
of light and air.
Unless the field is cultivated before the
replanting is done, the soil is apt to have
become hard, especially if heavy rains
have fallen, and the newly planted corn
does not havea suitable seed bed. The
weeds will also have got started. and
before the replant is big enough to
cultivate they will Get such start as to
be hard to overcome
Then in cultivating all through the
season, any one who has worked i'm a corn
field knows how difficult it is to do GOOD
work when the hills vary in size. Guilt
walton, to be effective, must be adaptcd
to the height of the corn, rs regards the
depth of working, nearncss to the hills.
and character of tools.
Another point, and an important one.
is that this replant corn will not bear
grain to any great extent. because. i'm adj
dition to the reasons already given why a
weak growth is induced. it will not prop
erly and sufficiently fortified with pollen
dust. The reader has often seen single
stalk of corn growing by itself in an open
field and has noticed that. no matter how
vigorous may have been the growth. the
attempt to produce grain resulted in a
cob on which were only few SCATTERING
kernels. The reason of this is that of
the pollen dust produced in the tassel.
the male organs of the plant. not enough
of it falls on the silks. the female ORGANS
to lertilize the germ of a kernel. which is
ut the base of each flamcnt Of silk. There
Is never grain of corn unless a grain of
pollen dust, the fertilizing element finds
its way into the mouth of each thread of
silk, which is a tube, and passes down
into this to the germ lying at the base
and on the cob, and there under the myg-
terry of the vital force starts this Germ
into life and development When, there
fore, stalk of corn stands by itself. the
winds carry "a large part of the pollen out
of the reach of the silks. and the germs
fail TO become fertiliZed When in a field
of other stalks the breeze which carries
its own dust away brings that of others
to IT. These facts also show how IL is
that different kinds OF corn so readily
mix when growing alongside.
Now, if one-fOurth of the hills scat
tered through the fields are two weeks
later than the other three fourths. we see
that these late hills will not be ready to
receive the pollen as it falls from the tas-
sells Of the older stalks. When they arc
ready the older and more numerous tas
sells viii have shed all Of their pollen and
these must depend on the few scattered
stalks for fertilization. And these arc
so surrounded by the other stalks which
serve as a wind break, that the chances
arc quite limited that they are sufficiently
polcnized, and all they amount TO is a
little fodder. This is not what the re-
planting is for usually, hence we advise.
If rcpIanting is necessary, that the field
bc given shallow blowing or a good
cultivation and narrowing and then re-
planted as a whole. The soil now being
in better mechanical condition and
warmer, the seed will terminate quickly
and grow rapidly. The only loss will be
the time taken in the first planting. and
the seed and one very considerable gain
will be the extra culture given the land
and Enc consequent destruction ofmilions
OF weeds that have terminated - COL
mans Rur0i WDyid